A MOTHER fought back tears last night after being cleared of hurling racial abuse at a young footballer.

Joanne Shannon said she and her family had gone through 18 months of hell, following accusations of shouting racist comments at a 15-year-old player during a youth match.

The disabled 38-year-old mum-of-two revealed she sponsors a youngster in poverty-striken Togo, West Africa, and was passionately anti-racist.

It also emerged she cannot shout due to damage to her voicebox during an operation on her spine.

She said: "It's obviously been horrific for myself, my family and my friends.

"Only my family and friends have kept me going for the past 18 months.

"There's nothing more awful than being accused of racism. It's impossible to prove that you're not racist.

"My friends have been absolutely fantastic, and all the way through it I've had to remind myself my friends and the people with me that day knew the truth.

"But now I can hold my head up high in the street again."

She walked free from Denbigh Magistrates Court yesterday after being found not guilty of racially aggravated threatening behaviour.

She had denied the charge during the four-day trial before District Judge Andrew Shaw. Shannon, of Llanelian Road, Old Colwyn, had been accused of shouting racist comments at the teenage Llandudno player as he scored two goals during a match against Glan y Don Cavaliers, with whom she was involved.

The court heard how the Ron Jones Tournament in Llandudno ended in a brawl.

Cavaliers team coach Michael Hughes said there was a "bad atmosphere" at the end of the game but he didn't hear any racist taunts.

There had been a history of bad blood between the sides. After a previous clash between the two Mr Hughes had been accused of making a racist comment by the Llandudno manager, who was banned from attending games as a result.

An internal league inquiry threw out the allegation against Mr Hughes.

Shannon said: "Obviously I'm delighted the judge is a sensible man and he could obviously see the truth of the matter.

"I'm delighted to be found innocent, because it's an absolutely awful thing to be accused of.

"I'm especially pleased for my sons. It's not been a pleasant ordeal for them with the comments they've had to put up with."

She is unable to work due to a painful spinal disorder. An operation on it damaged her voicebox.

"When I try to shout, nothing comes out," she said..

Her husband Steven, 41, acts as her full-time carer. Both

have since given up their involvement in football, although son Shaun, 17, has recently had a trial with Wrexham.

She has sponsored 14-year-old Togalese Essohouna Sana since 1997 and proudly displays photographs of him and his family in her home.

She said: "If I didn't sponsor this little boy, how could I prove I'm not racist? It's impossible."

She is now discussing with her lawyer taking legal action against those who had accused her. But she added: "I want to move on, absolutely put it behind me. I hope that this doesn't happen to anybody else."